


Finding Your Way Home from the Past

by aCinnaMeg519



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: 1864, Alternate Universe - Historical, American Civil War, Delena, Drama & Romance, F/M, First Meetings, Gen, My First Fanfic, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-23 23:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14343513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aCinnaMeg519/pseuds/aCinnaMeg519
Summary: Before Elena Gilbert is able to wake up, she has been sent back in time to 1864 where it all began.  She meets Damon Salvatore, but should she face the world as Katherine Pierce or should she beg for help from the newly turned vampire as his first love's Doppelgänger?Inspired by the line: "You should have met me in 1864, you would have liked me"





	1. Falling Through

“You should have met me in 1864, you would have liked me,” Damon's voice said in her head. Why, of all of the things that that man ever said to her, were those the words echoing in her mind? It couldn’t have been a heartfelt speech about how much he loved her? Or even one of their more racy private moments?

Elena Gilbert lay in her coffin just as she has done every day for the past several years; at times it felt as though she is almost conscious; her dreams and thoughts had become all that she knew. Today would be different. Today, this was all about to end.

Bonnie Bennett reached into Elena’s mind, just as she had on the day that she said goodbye. Today, there would be no floating feathers or tearful farewells. Today, Bonnie Bennett stood before her in her mind and whispers, “I did it.” Elena gave her a confused and startled look, but before she could react further, a bright light blinds her.

Elena found herself in the deserted hallway of Mystic Falls High School; she appeared outside Ric’s classroom door. As she was about to peer into the classroom, Stefan appeared before her. He looked much the same, but older somehow and more resigned than the last time that they had met, almost as if he has been looking forward to a long nap. It took her a minute to register that he was speaking to her, “Tonight I saw a side of Damon that I hadn’t seen in a while: the older brother that I looked up to, the son who enlisted in the Civil War to please his father, the Damon that I knew as a boy. I wanted that Damon to live, and I wanted you to have an opportunity to get to know him.”

At this, Elena began to realize what he is actually saying, that she would not have the opportunity to continue to know both brothers. Stefan continued with his speech of approval, “He’s the better man. He’s the right man.” In this way, Caroline and Stefan are much the same- constantly preparing speeches to make sure that they always get the right words out. In Elena’s experience though, people only gave this particular type of message when they believe that they will never see the person again. The final confirmation of her fear is stated in his final words to her, “It’s good to see you, Elena. One last time.”

He leans over and whispers to her that he has received Caroline’s message and that she must tell her that he will love her always. Stefan was always the brother to give empowering speeches and loving words of encouragement, unlike Damon, who is all action and little thought. Stefan’s words are always beautifully chosen, but this time Elena questioned if this final speech has done him justice or if his words fall flat.

A recently married man, Stefan, asked Elena must deliver a message to his wife, who is still a bride. Caroline Forbes will never know what it is like to be Mrs. Stefan Salvatore; her had changed from a bride to a widow with nothing in between. Elena’s heart ached for her friend, her ex-lover, and her old soul mate; she eagerly agreed to send his message. With a final last look, Stefan turned away, and as he opened the doors into implied peace, the bright light reappeared.

Elena reappeared in the middle of a dirt road, still in shock from what she has learned about Stefan Salvatore’s fate. Now she noticed that she was wearing a dress that looked much like those Caroline had designed for the Miss Mystic Falls Float at the Founders Day Parade eight years ago.

“Heathen!” Elena looks up to see her ancestor’s face screaming at her. “I killed you!”

Elena gasps. The man pushed her to the ground, a stake positioned to strike her heart above his head.

“No! Please, don’t hurt me!”

“I kill your kind! No exceptions!”

“But I’m human!” Elena screamed, a last ditch effort to save herself.

“What? You can’t be!” Jonathon Gilbert, looked shocked and as if he was trying to make sense of her human status. It seemed as though he was questioning everything he knew or believed in. This gave Elena just enough time to knee him and throw him off her.

Elena hiked up her skirt and began into the woods. She could hear Jonathon Gilbert screaming after her, “Katherine Pierce, I will find you and kill you!”


	2. Help Him, Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena meets Damon Salvatore, newly turned vampire, who begs her for help.

Dusk faded into night and despite having spent a lot of time in the woods chasing and being chased after by several antagonistic foes, Elena cannot find her way. There is a clearing up ahead and a large plantation house, which she had never seen before. There grew several large oak tree surrounding the property; perhaps there was a barn that she could hide in for the night. 

“Who’s there?” a familiar voice shouted through the night. 

Damon. Elena hesitated, what would his reaction be to her? If Jonathon Gilbert believed her to be Katherine, and he knew that she was a vampire that meant that Damon had just been turned. Would he be stable enough to listen to her without attacking her? Would he resent her for looking like Katherine?

Elena knew that she had to do something fast before he came out to look for her. She picked up a fist- sized rock and threw it deep into the woods in the opposite direction. Perhaps that would throw him off her trail, hopefully he had not yet figured out how to truly use his vampire senses, perhaps he would be too distracted. A bunch of startled crows flew into the air.  
Elena waited. She knew that he would hear her if she tried to move again. It was then she realized just how uncomfortably large her dress was. Sitting on the ground did not even seem to be an option. 

Elena finally had a moment to weigh her options. What should she do? Based upon Jonathon Gilbert’s reaction, the year was 1864. “Let’s brainstorm.” Elena thought to herself. She knew that Katherine Pierce turned Stefan and Damon in 1864, and she had left before the brothers had woken up in transition. This meant that Katherine Pierce was gone, which explained Jonathon Gilbert’s reaction when he found human- Elena Gilbert. It was unclear whether Damon, still at the Salvatore Plantation home, had completed the transition. 

Elena also knew that Stefan made him become a vampire because he did not want to be alone, and that soon Stefan would become a ripper, unable to control his need for blood. Could she stop him from becoming the Ripper of Monterey? After knowing Stefan for so many years, Elena knew the guilt that constantly weighed down upon him. Could she find a way to free him from his guilt? Would this change the trajectory of his life? Had she already changed the future by appearing here today?  
What about Damon? Damon’s anger towards his brother was spurred on by being forced to live without Katherine for a hundred and forty five years. Did he know that she was not dead yet? He, of course, did not know that she had escaped into the night.

“Miss Katherine, you came back for me,” Elena turned to see a desperate and relieved Damon Salvatore. This Damon was all too rare. How would she break his heart?

“No… I’m not…” Elena said.

Damon lunged forward and captured her lips with his. Elena, having been dreaming about this moment throughout her entire entombment, sighed into his kiss. She could let herself have this moment, right?

“You’re human,” Damon stated, “How is this possible?”

“Its not,” Elena answered. 

“Have you found a spell to hide your vampirism? To make it sound to others as though your heart is beating? Clever, Miss Katherine. Emily Bennett has been such a good ally, but I wish I would have known that you were safe sooner. Will you show me the way? I have been so lost without you. I thought I would not turn, if you were not there to live for, but here you are. Stefan, will not let me hear the end of it, of course. You know, I almost did not complete the transition… I suppose I must thank him, now. He is off hunting dinner now… He must be cleaner with that, but now that you are here, you can help him, he will not be found, and we will not be killed.” 

Elena stood stunned at the onslaught of information. Had Damon really been that suicidal? It was one thing to know in theory that he had almost not completed the transition, but it was another to see such a fragile version of the man that she loved stand in front of her now. 

Damon looked as if he had not fed or slept in months. His clothes were disheveled and wrinkled. There was a bloodstain on his shirt. He looked at Elena, believing she was Katherine, as if she was his savior. Elena faltered. What was she supposed to do? If she were to give someone else advice about what to say in this situation, she would have easily told him or her to come clean immediately before any further heart ache had occurred, but the Damon standing before her in this matter made her pause. 

Elena began to rationalize her unintentional decision to allow Damon to believe she was Katherine. If he were desperate enough to believe that Emily Bennett had found a spell to make it sound like Katherine’s heart had a beat, what would he do to himself if he found out that Katherine had abandoned him? Elena resolved to tell Damon the truth about herself- and Katherine- once she ensured that once he was in a more stable headspace. 

Elena’s first goal, of course, was to return to the future, but she would have to think about that later. 

“Miss Katherine, could I escort you back to the main house?”

“Yes, Mr. Damon, that would be lovely.” 

“Mr. Damon? Usually it is Mr. Salvatore. I am glad that we have moved past all of this formality.”

“Would you like to return to the house?” Elena said attempting to change the subject. She needed more information if she continued to impersonate Katherine, it was not as easy as she anticipated. Clearly, Katherine Pierce was much better at being Elena Gilbert than Elena was at playing Katherine. Not only, did she have little knowledge about the Salvatore brothers during the 1860s, it was the first time that she wished she paid closer attention in Alaric Saltzman’s history class. 

The pair walked into the front door of the Salvatore’s plantation’s house. The scent of fresh blood assaulted Elena’s senses, even as a human, the smell permeated her senses. The foyer opened up on the left into a parlor filled with several corpses, or almost corpses still leaking blood onto the carpet. Elena could see Damon’s jaw clench; perhaps this was the start of his fanatic cleaning, or perhaps he was trying to abstain and to resist his vampiric urges.

“Stefan, apparently, had quite the dinner party,” stated Damon, clearly uncomfortable with the sight. Elena was relieved that the newly turned vampire did not approve of this sort of display. In her history with the Salvatore brothers, it was usually Damon who compelled girls to come to their home so he could feed upon them. Then again, that wasn’t entirely accurate either. Although Damon went through his share of Delta Chi’s, when they first met, Stefan had his share of dark days as well. The Damon Salvatore that stood before Elena now was not the conniving, arrogant, self- proclaimed monster he was when the first met, nor was he the confident and reformed serial killer with whom she had found love. This Damon of 1864 seemed almost innocent, clearly nervous, and Elena realized that she did not know if he had killed before.

“…that's part of the reason that we needed you back, Miss Katherine,” Damon’s voice broke into her thoughts.

“I’m sorry?” she replied.

“Stefan needs guidance. He needs you,” said Damon, “and as much as it pains me to say this, you need to go to him, please. Pull him back from the edge. I could not stop him from turning into… He needs somebody to save him from himself.” 

Elena noticed Damon’s falter. It was clear that he regretted turning into a vampire, something that Elena thought that she would never see. It took so much to convince him to take the cure so that they could live out normal, human lives together, but this version of Damon, was so conflicted with his fate; he was so scared for his brother. 

“We will help him, Damon,” Elena said, “I promise. We will bring Stefan back.”

“Thank you so much… Katherine. I don’t know what I would do without you. I was about to give up on him. It is just too much.” The pair made their way up the stairs; it was getting quite late.

“We will help him together. But Damon, you would have been able to bring him back. In the end, it would have been his love for you that brought him back, not his love for me,” Elena restated the same words to Damon that she told him when Stefan was taken from them by Klaus.

“You are kind. I love you, Katherine.” Damon said. He then cleared his throat, straightened up and said gentlemanly, “Would you like to retire to your rooms now? You could always come into my chambers, Father is dead and all the servants have run away or have been compelled.”

“Perhaps another night, Mr. Salvatore. I have had a troubling day.”

“Understandable, Miss Katherine, and tomorrow you will have to tell me what you were doing out so late in the woods.”

“Good night, Damon,” Replied Elena. The pair paused in front of the door to the room in which Katherine was staying.

“I will come to you, after I deal with the mess that Stefan left downstairs.”

“Like I said, I would prefer to go to sleep alone tonight,” Elena used the commanding tone that she had only heard Katherine use before.

“Alright…” Damon trailed off. “Good night, then.”

“Good night.”


End file.
